System and method for digital film development using visible light

ABSTRACT

One aspect of the invention is a system for digital dye color film processing. In one embodiment, a developer station applies a processing solution to film to initiate development of metallic silver grains and at least one dye image within the film. A scanning system illuminates the coated film with light having at least one frequency within the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The light interacts with the silver and at least one dye image within the film. The scanning station measures the light from the film and produces sensor data that is communicated to a data processing system. The data processing system processes the sensor data to produce a digital image. The digital image can then be output to an output device, such as a printer, monitor, memory device, and the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application entitled Improved System and Method forDigital Film Development Using Visible Light, Serial No. 60/173,775Attorney Docket Number 021971.0161 (ASF99324), and having a filing dateof Dec. 30, 1999.

[0002] This application is related to the following copending U.S.patent applications: System and Method for Digital Film DevelopmentUsing Visible Light, Ser. No. ______ , Attorney Docket Number021971.0154 (ASF99286), and having a priority filing date of Dec. 30,1999; Method and System for Capturing Film Images, Ser. No. ______ ,Attorney Docket Number ASF00005, and having a priority filing date ofFeb. 3, 2000; System and Method for Digital Dye Color Film Processing,Ser. No. ______, Attorney Docket Number ASF00143, and having a prioritydate of Dec. 30, 1999; and Scanning Apparatus and Digital FilmProcessing Method, Ser. No. ______, Attorney Docket Number 24012-33(ASF98062), and having a priority filing date of Dec. 30, 1999.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] This invention relates generally to the field of electronic filmprocessing and more particularly to an improved system and method fordigital film development using visible light.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Images are used to communicate information and ideas. Images,including print pictures, film negatives, documents and the like, areoften digitized to produce a digital image that can then be instantlycommunicated, viewed, enhanced, modified, printed or stored. Theflexibility of digital images, as well as the ability to instantlycommunicate digital images, has led to a rising demand for improvedsystems and methods for film processing and the digitization of filmbased images into digital images. Film based images are traditionallydigitized by electronically scanning a film negative or film positivethat has been conventionally developed using a wet chemical developingprocess, as generally described below.

[0005] Undeveloped film generally includes a clear base and one or moreemulsion layers containing a dye coupler and a photosensitive material,such as silver halide, that is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation,i.e., light. In color films, independent emulsion layers are sensitizedto different bands, or colors, of light. In general, one or moreemulsion layers are sensitized to light associated with the colors ofred, green and blue. When a picture is taken, the photosensitivematerial is exposed to light from a scene and undergoes a chemicalchange. The greater the intensity of light interacting with thephotosensitive material, the greater the chemical change in thephotosensitive material. The photographic film can then be chemicallyprocessed to produce a fixed image of the scene based on this chemicalchange.

[0006] In a traditional wet chemical developing process, the film isimmersed and agitated in a series of tanks containing differentprocessing solutions. The first tank typically contains a developingsolution. The developing solution chemically reacts with the exposedsilver halide to produce elemental silver grains in each emulsion layerof the film. The metallic silver forms a silver image within eachemulsion layer of the film. The by-product of the chemical reactioncombines with the dye coupler in each emulsion layer to create a dyecloud. The color of the dye cloud is complementary to the band of lightthe emulsion layer has been sensitized to. For example, the redsensitized layer typically produces a cyan dye image, the greensensitized layer a magenta dye image, and the blue sensitized layer ayellow dye image. The density of the silver image and the correspondingdye image in each emulsion layer are directly proportional to theintensity of light the film was exposed to. The developing process isgenerally stopped by removing the film from the developer tank andrinsing the developing solution from the film with water or and acidicsolution.

[0007] Conventional wet chemical developing processes remove both thesilver image and the undeveloped silver halide grains from the film toproduce a film negative having only a dye image within the filmnegative. To remove the silver image and undeveloped silver halide, thedeveloped film is immersed and agitated in a tank of bleaching solution.The bleaching solution chemically oxidizes the metallic silver formingthe silver image and converts the silver image into silver halide. Thebleached film is then immersed and agitated in a tank of fixer solution.The fixer solution removes the silver halide from the film bysubstantially dissolving the silver halide crystals. The fixer solutionis thereby contaminated with dissolved silver compounds and becomes ahazardous waste byproduct of the wet chemical developing process. Thefilm is then washed, stabilized and dried to produce a conventional filmnegative. The film negative can then be used to produce a correspondingimage on photographic paper by methods known to those skilled in theart.

[0008] Conventional film digitization processes scan the film negativeusing a conventional electronic scanner to produce a digital image thatelectronically represents the photographed image. Conventionalelectronic film scanners generally operate by directing white lightthrough the film negative. The light interacts with the dye cloudsforming the image and the intensity of the colors red, green and blueare recorded by a sensor. The sensor data is used to produce the digitalimage.

[0009] A relatively new process under development is digital filmprocessing (DFP). DFP systems directly scan the film during thedevelopment process. In particular, instead of scanning the dye image inthe film, conventional DFP systems scan the silver image formed in theemulsion lavers while the film is developing. In conventional DFPsystems, the film is scanned using infrared light. Scanning withinfrared light prevents the film from being fogged and allows thedeveloping film to be scanned at different times during the developmentprocess in order to acquire image data at different exposure levels.

[0010] The DFP scanning process is generally accomplished by measuringinfrared light reflected from the developed silver image in the frontand back emulsion layers, and measuring the infrared light transmittedthrough the film. The reflected and transmitted light measurements ofthe film provide data on the blue, red, and green sensitized emulsionlayers, respectively. The measured reflected and transmitted light datais processed to produce the digital image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] One embodiment of the invention is an improved digital filmprocessing system. In this embodiment, the improved digital filmprocessing system includes a scanning system and a data processingsystem. The scanning system scans film and produces sensor data that iscommunicated to the data processing system. The film scanned by thescanning system includes silver and at least one dye cloud disposedwithin the film. The silver contained within the film may comprisedeveloped metallic silver, silver halide, or both. The data processingsystem processes the sensor data to produce a full color digital image.The digital image can be output to any suitable output device, such as amonitor, printer, memory device, and/or the Internet. In a particularembodiment, the digital color film processing system is embodied as aself-service kiosk for processing film.

[0012] Another embodiment of the invention is a system for developingand processing film to produce a digital image. In this embodiment, thesystem includes a film processing system, a scanning system, and a dataprocessing system. The film processing system operates to coat aprocessing solution onto the film that initiates development of a silverimage and at least one dye cloud within the film. In a particularembodiment, the film processing system includes a halt station thatoperates to retard development of the coated film after the film hasbeen developed for a predetermined amount of time. The halt station mayoperate by applying a halt solution to the coated film, chilling thefilm, drying the film, or any other suitable method for slowing thedevelopment of the film prior to scanning the film. The scanning systemscans at least one of the dye images (cyan, magenta, yellow) within thecoated film and outputs sensor data to the data processing system. Thescanning system scans the coated film using at least one frequency oflight within the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thedata processing system receives and processes the sensor data to producethe digital image. The light used to scan the film may comprise bluelight, red light, green light, any combination thereof, and any othersuitable light, including infrared light. The scanning system may alsooperate to scan the film by measuring light transmitted through thefilm, reflected from the film, reflected and transmitted through thefilm, or any other suitable combination.

[0013] Another embodiment of the invention is a system for digitizing adeveloped film coated with a processing solution. In this embodiment,the system comprises at least one lighting system and at least onesensor system. The lighting system operates to illuminate the coatedfilm with visible light. The sensor system operates to measure the lightfrom the coated film and produce sensor data. In particular embodiments,the visible light includes blue light, green light, red light, or asuitable combination thereof. In yet another particular embodiment, thelighting system also operates to illuminate the film with infraredlight.

[0014] Yet another embodiment of the invention is a film processingsystem. In this embodiment, the film processing system comprises anapplicator station and a development station. The applicator stationoperates to coat a processing solution onto the film, wherein theprocessing solution initiates development of a silver image and at leastone dye image within the film. The development station operates tosubstantially control the environment surrounding the coated film duringdevelopment of the film. The film processing system may also include ahalt station that operates to retard the development of the film afterdevelopment of the film. In a particular embodiment, the halt stationapplies a halt solution to the film. The halt solution may comprise afixer solution, bleach solution, stop solution, blix (bleach plus fixer)solution, any combination thereof, or any other suitable solution.

[0015] One implementation of the invention is a method for developingand digitizing exposed film having multiple emulsion layers containingsilver halide. In this implementation, the method comprises coating aprocessing solution on the film to develop the exposed silver halidegrains and produce at least one dye image within the coated film. Thecoated film is then scanned with light within the visible portion of theelectromagnetic spectrum to produce a dye-silver record that is outputas sensor data. The sensor data is then processed to produce a digitalimage. In a particular implementation, processing the sensor dataincludes processing the dye-silver record using a silver record tosubstantially remove the effects of silver within the film.

[0016] Another embodiment of the invention is the production of digitalimages produced by digitally processing film that has a silver image andat least one dye image within the film. Digitally processing the filmcomprises scanning the film with light having at least one frequencywithin the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum andprocessing the scan data to produce the digital images. In a particularembodiment, the light used to scan the film comprises red, green, andinfrared light. In other embodiments, the film is scanned using lighttransmitted through the film, reflected from the film, reflected andtransmitted through the film, or any other suitable combination.

[0017] The invention has several important technical advantages. Variousembodiments of the invention may have none, some, or all of theseadvantages. An advantage of at least one embodiment is thatenvironmentally hazardous effluents are not created by the removal ofsilver from the film. In particular, no water plumbing is required toprocess the film in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention. As a result, this embodiment is less expensive thatconventional wet chemical processing systems and can be located at anylocation. In contrast, conventional wet chemical processing of filmrequires water plumbing and removes the silver from the film, whichproduces environmentally hazardous effluents that are controlled by manygovernment regulatory agencies.

[0018] Another advantage of at least one embodiment of the invention isthat the invention can be embodied in a simple user operated filmprocessing system, such as a self-service kiosk. In this embodiment,skilled technicians are not required, thereby reducing the costassociated with developing and processing film. In addition, at leastone embodiment of the invention allows the film to be developed andprocessed faster than conventional wet chemical processing of the film.

[0019] Another advantage of at least one embodiment of the invention isthat data corresponding to the dye clouds in the film is used to producethe digital image. In other embodiments, data corresponding to thesilver image in the film is also used to produce the digital image. Incontrast, conventional digital film processing generally uses infraredlight to collect data corresponding only to the silver to produce adigital image. Accordingly, at least one embodiment produces a betterdigital image than produced by conventional digital film processing.

[0020] Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to oneskilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] For a more complete understanding of the invention and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals represent like parts, in which:

[0022]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an improved digital filmdevelopment system in accordance with the invention;

[0023]FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a development systemas shown in FIG. 1;

[0024]FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating another embodiment ofthe development system shown in FIG. 1;

[0025] FIGS. 2B-1 through 2B-4 are schematic diagrams illustratingvarious embodiments of a halt station shown in FIG. 2B;

[0026]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning system shownin FIG. 1;

[0027] FIGS. 4A-4D are schematic diagrams illustrating variousembodiments of a scanning station shown in FIG. 3; and

[0028] FIGS. 5A-5B are flow charts illustrating various methods ofimproved digital film development in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029]FIGS. 1 through 5B illustrate various embodiments of an improvedmethod and system for digital film processing system using visiblelight. During the film development process, each exposed frame of filmproduces a silver image and a corresponding dye image. As described ingreater detail below, the digital color dye film processing system andmethod utilizes light within the visible portion of the electromagneticspectrum to scan color dye image without washing the silver from thefilm. In certain embodiments, other frequencies of light, such as lightin the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, is utilized toscan at least one of the silver images. The scan data is then used toproduce a digital image of the photographed scene. In a conventionalphotographic development process, the metallic silver and silver halideare removed from the film and the film is dried to produce a filmnegative. A conventional film scanner can then be used to scan the filmnegative to produce a digital image.

[0030]FIG. 1 is a diagram of an improved digital film development system100 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In thisembodiment, the system 100 comprises a data processing system 102 and afilm processing system 104 that operates to digitize a film 106 toproduce a digital image 108 that can be output to an output device 110.Film 106, as used herein, includes color, black and white, x-ray,infrared or any other type of film and is not meant to refer to anyspecific type of film or a specific manufacturer.

[0031] Data processing system 102 comprises any type of computer orprocessor operable to process data. For example, data processing system102 may comprise a personal computer manufactured by Apple Computing,Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. or International Business Machines of NewYork. Data processing system 102 may also comprise any number ofcomputers or individual processors, such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Data processing system 102 may include aninput device 112 operable to allow a user to input information into thesystem 100. Although input device 112 is illustrated as a keyboard,input device 112 may comprise any input device, such as a keypad, mouse,point-of-sale device, voice recognition system, memory reading devicesuch as a flash card reader, or any other suitable data input device.

[0032] Data processing system 102 includes image processing software 114resident on the data processing system 102. Data processing system 102receives sensor data 116 from film processing system 104. As describedin greater detail below, sensor data 116 is representative of the colorsand silver in the film 106 at each discrete location, or pixel, of thefilm 106. The sensor data 116 is processed by image processing software114 to produce the digital image 108. The image processing software 114operates to compensate for the silver in the film 106. In oneembodiment, image processing software 114 comprises software based onU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/999,421, entitled Defect ChannelNulling, which is incorporated herein by reference. In this embodiment,any silver remaining in the film 106 is treated as a defect and eachindividual pixel color record is compensated to remove the effect of thesilver. Digitally compensating for the silver in the film 106 instead ofchemically removing the silver from film 106 substantially reduces oreliminates the production of hazardous chemical effluents that aregenerally produced during conventional film processing methods. Althoughthe image processing software 114 is described in terms of actualsoftware, the image processing software 114 may be embodied as hardware,such as an ASIC. The color records for each pixel form the digital image108; which is then communicated to one or more output devices 110.

[0033] Output device 110 may comprise any type or combination ofsuitable devices for displaying, storing, printing, transmitting orotherwise outputting the digital image 108. For example, as illustrated,output device 110 may comprise a monitor 110 a, a printer 110 b, anetwork system 110 c, a mass storage device 110 d, a computer system 110e, or any other suitable output device. Network system 118 c may be anynetwork system, such as the Internet, a local area network, and thelike. Mass storage device 110 d may be a magnetic or optical storagedevice, such as a floppy drive, hard drive, removable hard drive,optical drive, CD-ROM drive, and the like. Computer system 110 e may beused to further process or enhance the digital image 108.

[0034] As described in greater detail below, film processing system 104operates electronically scan the film 106 to produce the sensor data116. Light used to scan the film 106 includes light within the visibleportion of the electromagnetic spectrum. As illustrated, film processingsystem 104 comprises a transport system 120, a development system 122,and a scanning system 124. Although the system 100 is illustrated with adevelopment system 122, alternative embodiments of the system 100 do notrequire the development system 122. For example, film 106 may have beenpreprocessed and not require the development process described below.

[0035] Transport system 120 operates to dispense and move the film 106through the film processing system 104. In a preferred embodiment, thetransport system 120 comprises a leader transport system in which aleader is spliced to the film 106 and a series of rollers advances thefilm 106 through the film processing system 104, with care taken thatthe image surface of the film 106 is not contacted. Similar transportsystems 120 are found in film products manufactured by, for example,Noritsu Koki Co. of Wakayama, Japan, and are available to those in theart.

[0036] The development system 122 operates to apply a processingsolution to the film 106, as described in greater detail in FIG. 2. Theprocessing solution initiates development of the dye clouds and themetallic silver grains within the film 106. Additional processingsolutions may also be applied to the film 106. For example, stopsolutions, inhibitors, accelerators, bleach solutions, fixer solutions,and the like, may be applied to the film 106.

[0037] The scanning system 124 scans the film 106 through the processingsolutions applied to the film 106, as described in greater detail inFIG. 3. In other words, the processing solutions are not removed fromthe film 106 prior to the scanning process. In contrast, conventionalfilm processing systems remove the processing solution and dry the filmto create a conventional film negative prior to any digitizationprocess. The scanning station 124 scans the film 106 using light withinthe visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The visible lightmeasures the intensity associated with the dye clouds as well as thesilver within the film 106. In particular, one or more bands of visiblelight may be used to scan the film 106. For example, the film 106 may bescanned using visible light within the red, green and/or blue portionsof the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. In addition to scanning thefilm 106 using visible light, the scanning system 124 may also scan thefilm 106 using light from other portions of the electromagneticspectrum. For example, in one embodiment, infrared light is also used toscan the film 106. The infrared light scans the silver image bymeasuring the density of the metallic silver grains within the film 106.In contrast, conventional film processing systems remove substantiallyall the silver, both silver halide and metallic silver, from the film106 prior to any conventional scanning processes. Silver, whethermetallic silver or silver halide crystals, in the film negativeinterferes with the transmission of light through the film negative andwould be digitized along with the image. Any silver in the film negativewould appear as defects in the resulting digital image.

[0038] In operation, exposed, but undeveloped film 106 is fed into thetransport system 120. The film 106 is transported through thedevelopment system 122. The development system 122 applies a processingsolution to the film 106 that develops the film 106. The transportsystem 120 moves the film 106 through the scanning system 124. Thescanning system 124 scans the film 106 using light within at least oneportion of the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.Light from the film 106 is measured by the sensor system, which producessensor data 116. The sensor data 116 represents the dyes images plus thesilver in the film 106 at each pixel. The sensor data 116 iscommunicated to data processing system 102. The data processing system102 processes the sensor data 116 using image processing software 114 toproduce the digital image 108. The data processing system 102 may alsooperate to enhance or otherwise modify the digital image 108. The dataprocessing system 102 communicates the digital image 108 to the outputdevice 110 for viewing, storage, printing, communicating, or anycombination of the above.

[0039] In a particular embodiment of the improved digital filmdevelopment system 100 the system 100 is adapted to a self service filmprocessing system, such as a kiosk. Such a self service film processingsystem is uniquely suited to new locations because no plumbing isrequired to operate the self service film processing system. Inaddition, the developed images can be prescreened by the user beforethey are printed, thereby reducing costs and improving usersatisfaction. In addition, the self service film processing system canbe packaged in a relatively small size to reduce the amount of floorspace required. As a result of these advantages, a self service filmprocessing system can be located in hotels, college dorms, airports,copy centers, or any other suitable location. In other embodiments, thesystem 100 may be used for commercial film lab processing applications.Again, because there is no plumbing and the environmental impact ofprocessing the film 106 is substantially reduced or eliminated, theinstallation cost and the legal liability for operating such a film labis reduced. The system 100 can be adapted to any suitable applicationwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

[0040]FIG. 2A illustrates one embodiment of a development system 122. Inthis embodiment, a development system 122 a comprises an applicatorstation 200 and a development station 202. The applicator station 200operates to apply a relatively uniform coating of a processing solution204 to the film 106. In one embodiment, the processing solution 204comprises a color developer solution, such as Flexicolor Developer forProcess C-41 available from the Eastman Kodak Company. In otherembodiments, the processing solution 204 comprises other suitablesolutions. For example, the processing solution 204 may comprise amonobath solution that acts as a developer and stop solution.

[0041] The applicator station 200 comprises an applicator 206, a fluiddelivery system 208, and a reservoir 210. The applicator 206 operates tocoat the film 106 with the processing solution 204. In the preferredembodiment, as illustrated, the applicator 206 comprises a slot coaterdevice. In alternative embodiments, the applicator 206 comprises an inkjet applicator, a tank, an aerosol applicator, drip applicator, spongeapplicator, or any other suitable device for applying the processingsolution 204 to the film 106. The fluid delivery system 208 delivers theprocessing solution 204 from the reservoir 210 to the applicator 206. Inan embodiment in which the applicator 206 comprises a slot coaterdevice, the fluid delivery system 208 generally delivers the processingsolution 204 at a constant volumetric flow rate to help insureuniformity of coating of processing solution 204 on the film 106. Thereservoir 210 contains a sufficient volume of processing solution 204 toprocess multiple rolls of film 106. In the preferred embodiment, thereservoir 210 comprises a replaceable cartridge. In other embodiments,the reservoir 210 comprises a refillable tank. The applicator station200 may comprise other suitable systems and devices for applying theprocessing solution 204 to the film 106.

[0042] The development station 202 operates to give the film 106 time todevelop prior to being scanned by the scanning system 124. In theembodiment illustrated, the development station 202 forms that portionof the transport system 120 between the applicator 206 and the scanningsystem 124. The length of the development station 202 is generallydependent upon the development time of the film 106. In particular,depending upon the environment and chemical nature of the processingsolution 204, development of the film 106 may require as little as a fewseconds to as long as several minutes.

[0043] As illustrated, the development station 202 comprises a cover 212that protects the film 106 during development. The cover 212 forms anenvironmental chamber 214 surrounding the film 106. The temperature andhumidity within the environmental chamber 214 are strictly controlled.To facilitate controlling the temperature and humidity, theenvironmental chamber 214 has a minimum volume surrounding the film 106.The cover 212 may be insulated to maintain a substantially constanttemperature as the film 106 is developed. In order to maintain thetemperature, the development station 202 preferably includes a heatingsystem 216. As illustrated, the heating system 216 may include a heatedroller 218 and heating element 220. In addition, the heating system 216may include a processing solution heating system (not expressly shown)that heats the processing solution 204 prior to its application to thefilm 106.

[0044] In operation, transport system 120 transports the film 106through the applicator station 200. Fluid delivery system 208 dispensesthe processing solution 204 from the reservoir 210 through theapplicator 206 onto the film 106. The processing solution 204 initiatesdevelopment of the dye image and silver image within the film 106. Thecoated film 106 is then transported through the development station 202.As discussed above, the development station 202 allows the film 106 timeto develop within a controlled environment. The film 106 is thentransported by the transport system 120 to the scanning system 124. Asdescribed above, the processing solution 204 coated on the film 106 isnot removed, but remains on the film 106 as the film 106 is transportedto the scanning system 124.

[0045]FIG. 2B illustrates an alternative development system 122 b. Inthis embodiment, the development system 122 b comprises an applicatorstation 200, a development station 202, and a halt station 222. Thedeveloper applicator station 200 and the development station 202 werepreviously discussed in FIG. 2A. The applicator station 200 againapplies the processing solution 204 to the film 106 that initiatesdevelopment of the silver image and dye image within the film 106. Haltstation 222 operates to retard or substantially stop the continueddevelopment of the film 106. Retarding or substantially stopping thecontinued development of the film 106 increases the amount of time thefilm 106 can be exposed to visible light without substantially foggingof the film 106. FIGS. 2B-1-2B4 illustrate different examples of thehalt station 222.

[0046]FIG. 2B-1 illustrates a halt station 222 a that operates to applyat least one halt solution 224 to the film 106 coated with processingsolution 204. The halt solution 224 retards or substantially stops thecontinued development of the film 106. In the embodiment illustrated,the halt station 222 a comprises an applicator 206 b, a fluid deliverysystem 208 b, and a reservoir 210 b, similar in function and design asdescribed in FIG. 2A. Although a single applicator 206 b, fluid deliverysystem 208 b, and reservoir 210 b are illustrated, the halt station 222a may comprise any number of applicators 206 b, fluid delivery systems208 b, and reservoirs 210 b that apply other suitable halt solutions 224and other suitable solutions.

[0047] In one embodiment, the halt solution 224 comprises a bleachsolution. In this embodiment, the bleach solution substantially oxidizesthe metallic silver grains forming the silver image into a silvercompound, which may improve the transmission of light through the film106 during the scanning operation. In another embodiment, the haltsolution 224 comprises a fixer solution. In this embodiment, the fixersolution substantially dissolves the silver halide, which can alsoimprove the transmission of light through the film 106. In yet anotherembodiment, multiple halt solutions 224 are applied to the film 106. Forexample, a fixer solution can be applied to the film 106 and then astabilizer solution can be applied to the film 106. In this example, theaddition of the stabilizer desensitizes the silver halide within thefilm 106 and may allow the film 106 to be stored for long periods oftime without sensitivity to light. The halt solution 224 may compriseany other suitable processing solution. For example, the halt solution224 may comprise an aqueous solution, a blix solution (mixture of bleachand fix solutions), a stop solution, or any other suitable solution orcombination of processing solutions for retarding or substantiallystopping the continued development of the film 106.

[0048]FIG. 2B-2 illustrates a halt station 222 b that operates to chillthe developing film 106. Chilling the developing film 106 substantiallyslows the chemical developing action of the processing solution 204. Inthe embodiment illustrated, the chill station 222 b comprises anelectrical cooling plate 226 and insulation shield 228. In thisembodiment, the cooling plate 226 is electronically maintained at a cooltemperature that substantially arrests the chemical reaction of theprocessing solution 204. The insulation shield 228 substantially reducesthe heat transfer to the cooling plate 226. The chill halt station 222 bmay comprise any other suitable system and device for chilling thedeveloping film 106.

[0049]FIG. 2B-3 illustrates a halt station 222 c that operates to drythe processing solution 204 on the coated film 106. Drying theprocessing solution 204 substantially stops further development of thefilm 106. In the embodiment illustrated, the halt station 222 ccomprises an optional cooling plate 226, as described in FIG. 2B-2, anda drying system 230. Although heating the coated film 106 wouldfacilitate drying the processing solution 204, the higher temperaturewould also have the effect of accelerating the chemical reaction of theprocessing solution 204 and film 106. Accordingly, in the preferredembodiment, the film 106 is cooled to retard the chemical action of theprocessing solution 204 and then dried to effectively freeze-dry thecoated film 106. Although chilling the film 106 is preferred, heatingthe film 106 to dry the film 106 can also be accomplished byincorporating the accelerated action of the developer solution 204 intothe development time for the film 106. In another embodiment in which asuitable halt solution 224 is applied to the film 106, the chemicalaction of the processing solution 204 is already minimized and the film106 can be dried using heat without substantially effecting thedevelopment of the film 106. As illustrated, the drying system 230circulates air over the film 106 to dry the processing solution 204 anddepending upon the embodiment, the halt solution 224. The halt station222 c may comprise any other suitable system for drying the film 106.

[0050]FIG. 2B-4 illustrates a halt station 222 d that operates tosubstantially remove excess processing solution 204, and any excess haltsolution 224, from the film 106. The halt station 222 d does not removethe solutions 204, 224 that are absorbed into the film 106. In otherwords, even after the wiping action, the film 106 includes some solution204, 224. Removing any excess processing solution 204 will retard thecontinued development of the film 106. In addition, wiping any excesssolutions 204, 224 from the film 106 may improve the light reflectanceand transmissivity properties of the coated film 106. In particular,removal of the excess solutions 204, 224 may reduce any surfaceirregularities in the coating surface, which can degrade the scanningoperations described in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the embodimentillustrated, the halt station 222 d comprises a wiper 232 operable tosubstantially remove excess processing solution 204 and any haltsolution 224. In a particular embodiment, the wiper 232 includes anabsorbent material that wicks away the excess solutions 204, 224. Inanother embodiment, the wiper 232 comprises a squeegee that mechanicallyremoves substantially all the excess solutions 204, 224. The haltstation 222 d may comprise any suitable device or system operable tosubstantially remove any excess solutions 204, 224.

[0051] Although specific embodiments of the halt station 222 have beendescribed above, the halt station 222 may comprise any suitable deviceor system for retarding or substantially stopping the continueddevelopment of the film 106. In particular, the halt station 222 maycomprise any suitable combination of the above embodiments. For example,the halt station 222 may comprise an applicator station 200 b forapplying a halt solution 224, a cooling plate 226, and a drying system230. As another example, the halt station 222 may comprise a wiper 232and a drying system 230.

[0052]FIG. 3 is a diagram of the scanning system 124. Scanning system124 comprises one or more scanning stations 300. Individual scanningstations 300 may have the same or different architectures andembodiments. Each scanning station 300 comprises a lighting system 302and a sensor system 304. The lighting system 302 includes one or morelight sources 306 and optional optics 308. The sensor system 304includes one or more detectors 310 and optional optics 312. Inoperation, the lighting system 302 operates to produce suitable light320 that is directed onto the film 106. The sensor system 304 operatesto measure the light 320 from the film 106 and produce sensor data 116that is communicated to the to the data processing system 102.

[0053] Each scanning station 300 utilizes electromagnetic radiation,i.e., light, to scan the film 106. Individual scanning stations 300 mayhave different architectures and scan the film 106 using differentcolors, or frequency bands (wavelengths), and color combinations. Inparticular, different colors of light interact differently with the film106. Visible light interacts with the dye image and silver within thefilm 106. Whereas, infrared light interacts with the silver, but the dyeimage is generally transparent to infrared light. The term “color” isused to generally describe specific frequency bands of electromagneticradiation, including visible and non-visible light.

[0054] Visible light, as used herein, means electromagnetic radiationhaving a wavelength or band generally within the electromagneticspectrum of near infrared light (>700 nm) to near ultraviolet light(<400 nm). Visible light can be separated into specific bandwidths. Forexample, the color red is generally associated with light within afrequency band of approximately 600 nm to 700 nm, the color green isgenerally associated with light within a frequency band of approximately500 nm to 600 nm, and the color blue is generally associated with lighthaving a wavelength of approximately 400 nm to 500 nm. Near infraredlight is generally associated with radiation having a wavelength ofapproximately 700 nm to 1500 nm. Although specific colors andwavelengths are described herein, the scanning station 300 may utilizeother suitable colors and wavelengths (frequency) ranges withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0055] The light source 306 may comprise one or more devices or a systemthat produces suitable light 320. In the preferred embodiment, the lightsource 306, comprises an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In thisembodiment, different LEDs within the array may be used to producedifferent colors of light 320, including infrared light. In particular,specific colors of LEDs can be controlled to produce short durationpulses of light 320. In another embodiment, the light source 306comprises a broad spectrum light source 306, such as a fluorescent,incandescent, tungsten-halogen, direct gas discharge lamps, and thelike. In this embodiment, the sensor system 304 may include filters forspectrally separating the colors of light 320 from the film 106. Forexample, as described below, a RGB filtered trilinear array of detectorsmay be used to spectrally separate the light 320 from the film 106. Inanother embodiment of a broad-spectrum light source, the light source306 includes a filter, such as a color wheel, to produce the specifiedcolors of light 320. In yet another embodiment, the light source 306comprises a point light source, such as a laser. For example, the pointlight source may be a gallium arsenide or an indium gallium phosphidelaser. In this embodiment, the width of the laser beam is preferably thesame size as a pixel on the film 106 (˜12 microns). Filters, such as acolor wheel, or other suitable wavelength modifiers or limiters maybeused to provide the specified color or colors of light 320.

[0056] Optional optics 308 for the lighting system 302 directs the light320 to the film 106. In the preferred embodiment, the optics 308comprises a waveguide that directs the light 320 onto the film 106. Inother embodiment, the optics 320 includes a lens system for focusing thelight 320. In a particular embodiment, the lens system includes apolarizing filter to condition the light 320. The optics 308 may alsoinclude a light baffle 322 a. The light baffle 322 a constrainsillumination of the light 320 within a scan area in order to reducelight leakage that could cause fogging of the film 106. In oneembodiment, the light baffle 322 a comprises a coated member adjacentthe film 106. The coating is generally a light absorbing material toprevent reflecting light 320 that could cause fogging of the film 106.

[0057] The detector 310 comprises one or more photodetectors thatconvert light 320 from the film 106 into data signals 116. In thepreferred embodiment, the detector 310 comprises a linear charge coupleddevice (CCD) array. In another embodiment, the detector 310 comprises anarea array. The detector 310 may also comprise a photodiode,phototransistor, photoresistor, and the like. The detector 310 mayinclude filters to limit the bandwidth, or color, detected by individualphotodetectors. For example, a trilinear array often includes separatelines of photodetectors with each line of photodetectors having a colorfilter to allow only one color of light to be measured by thephotodetector. Specifically, in a trilinear array, the array generallyincludes individual red, green, and blue filters over separate lines inthe array. This allows the simultaneous measurement of red, green, andblue components of the light 320. Other suitable types of filters may beused. For example, a hot mirror and a cold mirror can be used toseparate infrared light from visible light.

[0058] Optional optics 312 for the sensor system 304 directs the light320 from the film 106 onto the detector 310. In the preferredembodiment, the optics 312 comprises a lens system that directs thelight 320 from the film 106 onto the detector 310. In a particularembodiment, the optics 312 include polarized lenses. The optics 312 mayalso include a light baffle 322 b. The light baffle 322 b is similar infunction to light baffle 322 a to help prevent fogging of the film 106.

[0059] As discussed previously, individual scanning stations 300 mayhave different architectures. For example, light 320 sensed by thesensor system 304 may be transmitted light or reflected light. Light 320reflected from the film 106 is generally representative of the emulsionlayer on the same side of the film 106 as the sensor system 304.Specifically, light 320 reflected from the front side (emulsion side) ofthe film 106 represents the blue sensitive layer and light 320 reflectedfrom the back side of the film 106 represents the red sensitive layer.Light 320 transmitted through the film 106 collects information from alllayers of the film 106. Different colors of light 320 are used tomeasure different characteristics of the film 106. For example, visiblelight interacts with the dye image and silver within the film 106, andinfrared light interacts with the silver in the film 106.

[0060] Different architectures and embodiments of the scanning station300 may scan the film 106 differently. In particular, the lightingsystem 302 and sensor system 304 operate in concert to illuminate andsense the light 320 from the film 106 to produce suitable sensor data116. In one embodiment, the lighting system 302 separately appliesdistinct colors of light 320 to the film 106. In this embodiment, thesensor system 304 generally comprises a non-filtered detector 310 thatmeasures in series the corresponding colors of light 320 from the film106. In another embodiment, multiple unique color combinations aresimultaneously applied to the film 106, and individual color records arederived from the sensor data 116. In another embodiment, the lightingsystem 302 simultaneously applies multiple colors of light 320 to thefilm 106. In this embodiment, the sensor system 304 generally comprisesa filtered detector 310 that allows the simultaneous measurement ofindividual colors of light 320. Other suitable scanning methods may beused to obtain the required color records.

[0061] The use of the halt station 222 may improve the scanningproperties of the film 106 in addition to retarding or substantiallystopping the continued development of the film 106. For example, theintensity of light 320 transmitted through the film 106 may be partiallyblocked, or occluded, by the silver within the film 106. In particular,both the silver image and silver halide within the film 106 occludelight 320. On the whole, the silver image within the film 106 absorbslight 320, and the silver halide reflects light 320. The halt solutions224 may be used to improve the scanning properties of the film 106. Forexample, applying a bleach solution to the film 106 reduces the opticaldensity of the silver image within the film 106. Applying a fixersolution to the film 106 reduces optical density of silver halide withinthe film 106. Another method for improving the scanning properties ofthe film 106 is drying the film 106. Drying the film 106 improves theclarity of the film 106.

[0062] As described above, the scanning system 124 may include one ormore individual scanning stations 300. Specific examples of scannerstation 300 architectures are illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4D. The scanningsystem 124 may comprise any illustrated example, combination ofexamples, or other suitable methods or systems for scanning the film106.

[0063]FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning station 300a having a transmission architecture. As illustrated, the transmissionscanning station 300 a comprises a lighting system 302 a and a sensorsystem 304 a. Lighting system 302 a produces light 320 a that istransmitted through the film 106 and measured by the sensor system 304a. The sensor system 304 a produces sensor data 116 a that iscommunicated to the data processing system 102. Lighting system 302 aand sensor system 304 a are similar in design and function as lightingsystem 302 and sensor system 304, respectively. Although FIG. 4Aillustrates the light 320 a being transmitted through the film 106 fromthe backside to the frontside of the film 106, the light 320 a can alsobe transmitted through the film 106 from the frontside to the backsideof the film 106 without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0064] In one embodiment of the scanning station 300 a, the light 320 aproduced by the lighting system 302 a comprises visible light. Thevisible light 320 a may comprise broadband visible light individualvisible light colors, or combinations of visible light colors. Thevisible light 320 a interacts with the silver and at least one dye cloudwithin the film 106. In particular, depending upon the embodiment of thedevelopment system 122, the silver remaining in the film 106 may bemetallic silver, silver compound, or both.

[0065] In an embodiment in which the visible light 320 a interacts withthe magenta, cyan and yellow dye images within the film 106, as well asthe silver within the film 106, the sensor system 304 a records theintensity of visible light 320 a from the film 106 and produces sensordata 116 a. The sensor data 116 a generally comprises a red, green, andblue record corresponding to the cyan, magenta, and yellow dye images,respectively. Each of the red, green, and blue records includes a silverrecord. As previously discussed, the silver partially occludes thevisible light 320 a being transmitted through the film 106. Accordingly,the red, green, and blue records are generally processed by the dataprocessing system 102 to correct the records for the occlusion caused bythe silver image in the film 106.

[0066] In the preferred embodiment of the transmission scanning station300 a, the light 320 a produced by the lighting system 302 a comprisesvisible light and infrared light. As discussed above, the visible lightmay comprise broadband visible light, individual visible light colors,or combinations of visible light colors. The infrared light may compriseinfrared, near infrared, or any suitable combination. The visible light320 a interacts with the silver and at least one dye image, i.e. cyan,magenta, or yellow dye images, within the film 106 to produce a red,green, and/or blue record that includes a silver record. The infraredlight interacts with the silver within the film 106 and produces asilver record. The silver image record can then be used to remove, atleast in part, the silver metal record contained in the red, green, andblue records. This embodiment is analogous to the defect correctionelectronic scanners described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,805, entitledSystem and Method for Image Recovery, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference. In this embodiment, the silver is analogous to adefect that obstructs the optical path of the infrared light. The amountof occlusion is used as a basis for modifying the color records. Forexample, in pixels having a high silver density, the individual colorrecords are significantly increased, whereas in pixels having a lowsilver density, the individual color records are relatively unchanged.

[0067] In yet another embodiment of the transmission scanning station300 a, the light produced by the lighting system 302 a comprisesinfrared or near infrared light. In this embodiment, the infrared light320 a interacts with the silver image in the film 106 but does notsubstantially interact with the dye images within the film 106. In thisembodiment, the sensor data 116 a does not spectrally distinguish themagenta, cyan, and yellow dye images. An advantage of this embodiment isthat the infrared light 320 a does not fog the film 106. In a particularembodiment, the advantage of not fogging the film 106 allows the film106 to be scanned at multiple development times without significantlyfogging the film 106. In this embodiment, the scanning station 300 a canbe used to determine the optimal development time for the film 106. Thisembodiment may optimally be used to determine the optimal developmenttime of the film 106, which can then be scanned using another scanningstation 300

[0068]FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning station 300b having a reflection architecture. The reflective scanning station 300b comprises a lighting system 302 b and a sensor system 304 b. Lightingsystem 302 b produces light 320 b that is reflected from the film 106and measured by the sensor system 304 b. The sensor system 304 bproduces sensor data 116 b that is communicated to the data processingsystem 102. Lighting system 302 b and sensor system 304 b are similar tolighting system 302 and sensor system 304, respectively.

[0069] In one embodiment of the reflective scanning station 300 b usedto scan the blue emulsion layer of the film 106, the light 320 bproduced by the lighting system 302 b comprises blue light. In thisembodiment, the blue light 320 b scans the silver image and dye imagewithin the blue layer of the film 106. The blue light 320 b interactswith the yellow dye image and also the silver in the blue emulsionlayer. In particular, the blue light 320 b is reflected from the silverhalide and measured by the sensor system 304 b to produce a blue record.Many conventional films 106 include a yellow filter below the blueemulsion layer that blocks the blue light 320 a from illuminating theother emulsion layers of the film 106. As a result, noise created bycross-talk between the blue emulsion layer and the red and greenemulsion layers is substantially reduced.

[0070] In another embodiment of the reflective scanning station 300 bused to scan the blue emulsion layer of the, film 106, the light 320 bproduced by the lighting system 302 b comprises non-blue light. It hasbeen determined that visible light other than blue light interacts insubstantially the same manner with the various emulsion layers. In thisembodiment, infrared light also interacts in substantially the samemanner as non-blue light, with the exception that infrared light willnot fog the emulsion layers of the film 106. In this embodiment, thenon-blue light 320 b interacts with the silver image in the blueemulsion layer of the film 106, but is transparent to the yellow dyewithin the blue emulsion layer of the film 106. This embodiment is proneto higher noise levels created by cross-talk between the blue and greenemulsion layers of the film 106.

[0071] In yet another embodiment of the reflective scanning station 300b, the light 320 b produced by the lighting system 302 b comprisesvisible and infrared light. In this embodiment, blue light interactswith the yellow dye image and the silver image in the blue emulsionlayer, green light interacts with magenta dye image and the silver imagein each of the emulsion layers, red light interacts with the cyan dyeimage and the silver in each of the emulsion layers, and the infraredlight interacts with the silver in each emulsion layer of the film 106.In this embodiment, the sensor system 304 b generally comprises afiltered detector 310 b (not expressly shown) that measures the red,green, blue, and infrared light 320 b from the film 106 to produce red,green, blue, and infrared records as sensor data 116 b.

[0072] Although the scanning station 300 b is illustrated with thelighting system 302 b and the sensor system 304 b located on front sideof the film 106, the lighting system 302 b and the sensor system 304 bmay also be located on the back side of the film 106. In one embodiment,the light 320 b produced by the lighting system 302 b may comprise redlight. The red light largely interacts with the cyan dye image andsilver in the red emulsion layer of the film 106 to produce a red recordof the sensor data 116 b.

[0073]FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning station 300c having a transmission-reflection architecture. In this embodiment, thescanning station 300 c comprises a first lighting system 302 c, a secondlighting system 302 d, and a sensor system 304 c. In the preferredembodiment, the lighting system 302 c operates to illuminate the frontside of the film 106 with light 320 c, the second lighting system 302 doperates to illuminate the backside of the film 106 with light 320 d,and the sensor system 304 c operates to measure the light 320 creflected from the film 106 and the light 320 d transmitted through thefilm 106. Based on the measurements of the light 320 b, 320 d, thesensor system 304 c produces sensor data 116 c that is communicated tothe data processing system 102. Lighting system 302 c and 302 d aresimilar to lighting system 302, and sensor system 304 c is similar tothe sensor system 304. Although scanning station 300 c is illustratedwith lighting systems 302 c, 302 d, a single light source may be used toproduce light that is directed through a system of mirrors, shutters,filters, and the like, to illuminate the film 106 with the front side ofthe film 106 with light 320 c and illuminate the back side of the film106 with light 320 d. The light 320 c, 320 d may comprise any color orcolor combinations, including infrared light.

[0074] This embodiment of the scanning station 300 c utilizes many ofthe positive characteristics of the transmission architecture scanningstation 300 a and the reflection architecture scanning station 300 b.For example, the blue emulsion layer is viewed better by light 320 creflected from the film 106 than by light 320 d transmitted through thefilm 106; the green emulsion layer is viewed better by light 320 dtransmitted through the film 106 than by light 320 c reflected from thefilm 106; and the red emulsion layer is adequately viewed by light 320 dtransmitted through the film 106. In addition, the cost of the scanningstation 300 c is minimized through the use of a single sensor system 304c.

[0075] In the preferred embodiment of the scanning station 300 c, thelight 320 c comprises blue light, and light 320 d comprises red, green,and infrared light. The blue light 320 c interacts with the yellow dyeimage and silver in the blue emulsion layer of the film 106. The sensorsystem 304 c measures the light 320 c from the film 106 and produces ablue-silver record. The red and green light 320 d interacts with thecyan and magenta dye images, respectively, as well as the silver in thefilm 106. The infrared light 320 d interacts with the silver, but doesnot interact with the dye clouds within the film 106. As discussedpreviously, the silver contained within the film 106 may comprise silvergrains, silver halide, or both. The red, green, and infrared light 320 dtransmitted through the film 106 is measured by the sensor system 304 c,which produces a red-silver, green-silver, and silver record. Theblue-silver, red-silver, green-silver, and silver records form thesensor data 116 c that is communicated to the data processing system102. The data processing system 102 utilizes the silver record tofacilitate removal of the silver component from the red, green, and bluerecords.

[0076] In another embodiment, the light 320 c comprises blue light andinfrared light, and light 320 d comprises red, green, and infraredlight. As discussed previously, the blue light 320 c mainly interactswith the yellow dye image and silver within the blue emulsion layer ofthe film 106. The infrared light 320 c interacts with mainly the silverin the blue emulsion layer of the film 106. The sensor system 304 cmeasures the blue and infrared light 320 c from the film 106 andproduces a blue-silver record and a front side silver record,respectively. The red, green, and infrared light 320 d interact with thefilm 106 and are measured by the sensor system 304 c to producered-silver, green-silver and transmitted-silver records as discussedabove. The blue-silver, red-silver, green-silver, and both silverrecords form the sensor data 116 c that is communicated to the dataprocessing system 102. In this embodiment, the data processing system102 utilizes the front side silver record of the blue emulsion layer tofacilitate removal of the silver component from the blue-silver record,and the transmission-silver record is utilized to facilitate removal ofthe silver component from the red and green records.

[0077] Although the scanning station 300 c is described in terms ofspecific colors and color combinations of light 320 c and light 320 d,the light 320 c and light 320 d may comprise other suitable colors andcolor combinations of light without departing from the scope of theinvention. For example light 320 c may comprise non-blue light, infraredlight, broadband white light, or any other suitable light. Likewise,light 320 d may include blue light, broadband white light, or anotherother suitable light. Scanning station 300 c may also comprise othersuitable embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.For example, although the scanning station 300 c is illustrated with twolighting systems 302 and a single sensor system 304, the scanningstation 300 c could be configured with a single lighting system 302 andtwo sensor systems 304, wherein one sensor system measures light 320reflected from the film 106 and the second sensory system 304 measureslight 320 transmitted through the film 106. In addition, as discussedabove, the scanning station 300 may comprise a single lighting systemthat illuminates the film 106 with light 320 c and light 320 d.

[0078]FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram illustrating a scanning station 300d having a reflection-transmission-reflection architecture. In thisembodiment, the scanning station 300 d comprises a first lighting system302 e, a second lighting system 302 f, a first sensor system 304 e, anda second sensor system 304 f. In the embodiment illustrated, thelighting system 302 e operates to illuminate the front side of the film106 with light 320 e, and the second lighting system 302 f operates toilluminate the back side of the film 106 with light 320 f. The firstsensor system 304 e operates to measure the light 320 e reflected fromthe film 106 and the light 320 f transmitted through the film 106, andthe second sensor system 304 f operates to measure the light 320 freflected from the film 106 and the light 320 e transmitted through thefilm 106. Based on the measurements of the light 320 e and 320 f, thesensor systems 304 e, 304 f produce sensor data 116 ef that iscommunicated to the data processing system 102. Lighting systems 302 e,302 f are similar to lighting systems 302, and sensor systems 304 e, 304f are similar to the sensor system 304. Although scanning station 300 dis illustrated with lighting systems 302 e, 302 f, and sensor systems,304 e, 304 f, a single lighting system and/or sensory system,respectively, may be used to produce light that is directed through asystem of mirrors, shutters, filters, and the like, to illuminate thefilm 106 with the frontside of the film 106 with light 320 e andilluminate the backside of the film 106 with light 320 f.

[0079] This embodiment of the scanning station 300 d expands upon thepositive characteristics of the transmission-reflection architecture ofscanning station 300 c. For example, as discussed in reference to FIG.4C, the blue emulsion layer is viewed better by light 320 e reflectedfrom the film 106 and the green emulsion layer is viewed better by light320 e or 320 f transmitted through the film 106. Second sensor system304 f allows viewing of the red emulsion layer by light 320 f reflectedfrom the film 106, which generally produces better results than viewingthe red emulsion layer by light 320 e or light 320 f transmitted throughthe film 106.

[0080] In the preferred embodiment of the scanning station 300 d, thesensor systems 304 e, 304 f include a trilinear array of filtereddetectors, and the light 320 e and the light 320 f comprises broadbandwhite light and infrared light. The trilinear array operates tosimultaneously measure the individual red, green, and blue components ofthe broadband white light 320 e, 320 f. The infrared light is measuredseparately and can be measured through each filtered detector 310 of thesensor systems 304 e, 304 f. The broadband white light 320 e, 320 finteracts with the silver and magenta, cyan, and yellow color dyes inthe film 106, respectively, and the infrared light 320 e, 320 finteracts with the silver within the film 106. The reflected white light320 e measured by the first sensor system 304 e includes informationcorresponding to the yellow dye image and the silver in the blueemulsion layer of the film 106. In particular, the blue component of thebroadband white light 320 e measured by the blue detector of the sensorsystem 304 e corresponds to the yellow dye image, and the non-bluecomponents of the broadband white light 320 e measured by the red andgreen detectors corresponds to the red and green dye images and all thesilver within the emulsion layers of the film 106. Similarly, the redcomponent of the broadband white light 320 f measured by the reddetector of the sensor system 304 f corresponds largely to the cyan dyeimage, and the non-red components of the broadband white light 320 emeasured by the blue and green detectors corresponds to the yellow andmagenta dye images and all the silver within the emulsion layers of thefilm 106. The white light 320 e, 320 f transmitted through the film 106interacts with each color dye image and silver within the film 106, andthe red, green, and blue light components are measured by the red,green, and blue detectors of the sensor systems 304 e, 304 f to produceindividual red, green and blue light records that include the silverrecord. The infrared light 320 e reflected from the film 106 andmeasured by the sensor system 304 e corresponds largely to the silver inthe blue emulsion layer of the film 106, and the infrared light 320 freflected from the film 106 and measured by the sensor system 304 flargely corresponds to the silver in the red emulsion layer of the film106. The infrared light 320 e, 320 f transmitted through the film 106measured by the sensor systems 304 e, 304 f corresponds to the silver inthe red, green, and blue emulsion layers of the film 106. The individualmeasurements of the sensor systems 304 e, 304 f are communicated to thedata processing system 102 as sensor data 116 ef. The data processingsystem 102 processes the sensor data 116 ef and constructs the digitalimage 108 using the various sensor system measurements. For example, theblue signal value for each pixel can be calculated using the bluedetector data from the reflected light 320 e and the blue detector datafrom the transmitted light 320 f, as modified by non-blue detector datafrom the reflected light 320 e, and the non-blue detector data from thetransmitted light 320 e or 320 f. The red and green signal values foreach pixel can be similarly calculated using the various measurements.

[0081] In another embodiment of the scanning station 300 d, the sensorsystems 304 e, 304 f include a trilinear array of filtered detectors,and the light 320 e and the light 320 f comprises broadband white light.This embodiment of the scanning station 300 d operates in a similarmanner as discussed above, with the exception that infrared light is notmeasured or used to calculate the digital image 108. Although thescanning station 300 d is described in terms of a specific colors andcolor combinations of light 320 e and light 320 f, the light 320 e andlight 320 f may comprise other suitable colors and color combinations oflight without departing from the scope of the invention. Likewise, thescanning station 300 d may comprise other suitable devices and systemswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

[0082]FIG. 5A is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method fordeveloping and processing film. This method may be used in conjunctionwith one or more embodiments of the system 100 that includes a dataprocessing system 102 and a film processing system 104 having atransport system 120, a development system 122, and a scanning system124. The development system 122 includes an applicator station 200 forapplying a processing solution 204 to the film 106 and a developmentstation 202. The scanning system 124 comprises a single scanning station300 operable to scan the film 106 with light 320 having a frequency(wavelength) within the visible light spectrum and produce sensor data116 that is communicated to the data processing system 102. The dataprocessing system 102 processes the sensor data 116 to produce a digitalimage 108 that may be output to an output device 110.

[0083] The method begins at step 500, where the transport system 120advances the film 106 to the applicator station 200. Film 106 isgenerally fed from a conventional film cartridge and advanced by thetransport system 120 through the various stations of the film processingsystem 104. At step 502, processing solution 204 is applied to the film106. The processing solution 204 initiates production of silver and atleast one dye image within the film 106. The processing solution 204 isgenerally applied as a thin coating onto the film 106, which is absorbedby the film 106. At step 504, the film 106 is advanced through thedevelopment station 202 where the dye images and silver grains developwithin the film 106. The environmental conditions, such as thetemperature and humidity, are generally controlled within developmentstation 202. This allows the film 106 to develop in a controlled andrepeatable manner and provides the proper development time for the film106. At step 506, the film 106 is scanned by the scanning system 124using light 320 having at least one frequency within the visible portionof the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., visible light. The visible lightinteracts with at least one dye image within the film 106 and also thesilver within the film 106. In some embodiments, the light 320 used toscan the film 106 also includes infrared light. Infrared light interactswith the silver, but is substantially unaffected by the dye imageswithin the film 106. As discussed in reference to FIGS. 4A-4D, the film106 can be scanned in a number of different ways embodied in a number ofdifferent architectures, each with their own advantages. Sensor data 116is produced by the scanning system 124 and communicated to the dataprocessing system 102. At step 508, the sensor data 116 is processed toproduce the digital image 108. The data processing system 102 includesimage processing software 114 that processes the sensor data 116 toproduce the digital image 108. The digital image 108 represents thephotographic image recorded on the film 106. At step 510, the digitalimage 108 is output to one or more output devices 110, such as monitor110 a, printer 110 b, network system 110 c, storage device 110 d,computer system 110 e, and the like.

[0084]FIG. 5B is a flowchart of another embodiment of a method fordeveloping and processing film. This method may be used with one or moreembodiments of the system 100 that includes the development system 122having the halt station 222. This method is similar to the methoddescribed in FIG. 5A, with the exception that development of the film106 is substantially stopped by the halt station 222.

[0085] The method begins at step 520, where the transport system 120advances the film 106 to the applicator station 200. At step 522,processing solution 204 is applied to the film 106. The processingsolution 204 initiates production of silver grains and at least one dyeimage within the film 106. At step 524, the film 106 is advanced throughthe development station 202 where the dye images and silver developwithin the film 106. At step 526, the continued development of the film106 is retarded or substantially stopped by the halt station 222.Retarding or substantially stopping the continued development of thefilm 106 allows the film 106 to be scanned using visible light 320without fogging the film 106 during the scanning process. For example,if the development of the film 106 is stopped, the film 106 can beexposed to visible light without negatively affecting the scanningprocess. The halt station 222 may comprise a number of embodiments. Forexample, the halt station 222 may apply a halt solution 224, such as ableach solution, fixer solution, blix solution, stop solution and thelike. The halt solution 224 may also operate to stabilize the film 106.The halt station 222 may also comprise a wiper, drying system, coolingsystem and the like. At step 528, the film 106 is scanned by thescanning system 124 using light 320 having at least one frequency withinthe visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., visiblelight. At step 530, the sensor data 116 is processed to produce thedigital image 108. At step 532, the digital image 108 is output to oneor more output devices 110, such as monitor 110 a, printer 110 b,network system 110 c, storage device 110 d, computer system 110 e, andthe like.

[0086] While the invention has been particularly shown and described inthe foregoing detailed description, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various other changes in form and detail may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An improved digital film processing systemcomprising: a scanning system operable to scan a film having silver andat least one dye image disposed within the film, and produce sensordata; and a data processing system operable to receive and process thesensor data to produce a digital image.
 2. The improved digital filmprocessing system of claim 1, wherein the silver disposed within thefilm comprises silver halide.
 3. The improved digital film processingsystem of claim 1, wherein the silver disposed within the film comprisesmetallic silver.
 4. The improved digital film processing system of claim1, wherein the silver disposed within the film comprises both silverhalide and metallic silver.
 5. The improved digital film processingsystem of claim 1, wherein the scanning system operates to scan the filmwith at least two frequencies of light, with at least one frequency oflight within the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.6. The improved digital film processing system of claim 5, wherein thescanning system operates to scan the film with infrared light.
 7. Theimproved digital film processing system of claim 1, wherein the scanningsystem operates to scan the film by measuring light transmitting throughthe film.
 8. The improved digital film processing system of claim 7,wherein the light comprises infrared light.
 9. The improved digital filmprocessing system of claim 7, wherein the light comprises green light.10. The improved digital film processing system of claim 1, wherein thescanning system operates to scan the film by measuring light reflectedfrom the film.
 11. The improved digital film processing system of claim10, wherein the light comprises blue light.
 12. The improved digitalfilm processing system of claim 1, further comprising an output deviceoperable to receive the digital image.
 13. The improved digital filmprocessing system of claim 1, wherein the scanning system operates toscan the film by measuring light transmitted through and reflected fromthe film.
 14. The improved digital film processing system of claim 13,wherein the light transmitted through the film includes infrared light.15. The improved digital film processing system of claim 13, wherein thelight transmitted through the film includes visible light.
 16. Theimproved digital film processing system of claim 13, wherein the lightreflected from the film comprises blue light.
 17. The improved digitalfilm processing system of claim 13, wherein the light transmittedthrough the film comprises infrared and visible light, and the lightreflected from the film comprises blue light.
 18. The improved digitalfilm processing system of claim 1, further comprising a developmentsystem operable to apply a processing solution to the film prior toscanning the film.
 19. The improved digital film processing system ofclaim 18, wherein the development system includes a slot coater forcoating the processing solution onto the film.
 20. The improved digitalfilm processing system of claim 18, wherein the digital color filmprocessing system is embodied in a self service kiosk.
 21. The improveddigital film processing system of claim 18, wherein the digital colorfilm processing system is embodied in a photofinishing lab.
 22. Theimproved digital film processing system of claim 18, further comprisinga halt station operable to retard development of the film.
 23. Theimproved digital film processing system of claim 22, wherein the haltstation applies a halt solution to the film.
 24. The improved digitalfilm processing system of claim 23, wherein the halt solution comprisesa bleach solution.
 25. The improved digital film processing system ofclaim 23, wherein the halt solution comprises a fixer solution.
 26. Theimproved digital film processing system of claim 22, wherein the haltstation operates to decrease the temperature of the developing film. 27.The improved digital film processing system of claim 22, wherein thehalt station operates to dry the film.
 28. A system for developing andprocessing film to produce a digital image, the system comprising: afilm processing system operable to coat a processing solution onto thefilm that initiates development of silver and at least one dye imagewithin the film; a scanning system for scanning at least one dye cloudwithin the coated film and outputting sensor data, wherein the scanningsystem scans the coated film using light within the visible portion ofthe electromagnetic spectrum; and a data processing system operable toreceive and process the sensor data to produce the digital image. 29.The system of claim 28, wherein the film processing system includes ahalt station operable to retard development of the coated film.
 30. Thesystem of claim 29, wherein the halt station applies a halt solution tothe coated film.
 31. The system of claim 29, wherein the halt stationoperates to decrease the temperature of the developing film.
 32. Thesystem of claim 29, wherein the halt station operates to dry the coatedfilm.
 33. The system of claim 28, wherein the scanning system also scansthe coated film using infrared light.
 34. The system of claim 28,wherein the light includes green light.
 35. The system of claim 28,wherein the light includes red, green, blue, and infrared light.
 37. Thesystem of claim 28, wherein the scanning system operates to scan thecoated film by measuring the light transmitting through the coated film.38. The system of claim 37, wherein the light transmitted through thecoated film comprises infrared light.
 39. The system of claim 38,wherein the light transmitted through the coated film also comprisesvisible light.
 40. The system of claim 28, wherein the scanning systemoperates to scan the coated film by measuring light reflected from thecoated film.
 41. The system of claim 40, wherein the light reflectedfrom the coated film comprises blue light.
 42. The system of claim 28,wherein the scanning system operates to scan the coated film bymeasuring light transmitted through and reflected from the coated film.43. The system of claim 42, wherein the light transmitted through thecoated film includes infrared light.
 44. The system of claim 42, whereinthe light transmitted through the coated film includes visible light.45. The system of claim 42, wherein the light transmitted through thecoated film comprises infrared and visible light, and the lightreflected from the coated film comprises blue light.
 46. A system fordigitizing a developed film coated with a processing solution, thesystem comprising: at least one lighting system operable to illuminatethe coated film with visible light; and at least one sensor systemoperable to measure the light from the coated film and produce sensordata.
 47. The system of claim 46, wherein the at least one lightingsystem operates to illuminate the coated film with blue light.
 48. Thesystem of claim 46, wherein the at least one lighting system operates toilluminate the coated film with red light.
 49. The system of claim 46,wherein the at least one lighting system operates to simultaneouslyilluminate the coated film with red and green light.
 50. The system ofclaim 46, wherein the at least one lighting system also operates toilluminate the coated film with infrared light.
 51. The system of claim46, wherein the at least one lighting system includes a polarizingfilter.
 52. The system of claim 46, wherein the sensor system includes acharge coupled device (CCD) detector.
 53. The system of claim 46,wherein the sensor system measures light transmitted through the coatedfilm.
 54. The system of claim 53, wherein the light transmitted throughthe coated film includes infrared light.
 55. The system of claim 53,wherein the light transmitted through the coated film comprises red,green, and infrared light.
 56. The system of claim 46, wherein thesensor system measures light reflected from the coated film.
 57. Thesystem of claim 56, wherein the light reflected from the coated filmcomprises blue light.
 58. The system of claim 46, wherein the sensorsystem measures light transmitted through and reflected from the coatedfilm.
 59. The system of claim 58, wherein the light transmitted throughthe coated film includes infrared light.
 60. The system of claim 46,comprising: a first lighting system operable to illuminate the coatedfilm with infrared light; a first sensor system operable to measure theinfrared light from the coated film; a second lighting system operableto illuminate the coated film with at least one frequency of lightwithin the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and a secondsensor system operable to measure the visible light from the film. 61.The system of claim 60, wherein the first sensor system measurementsoccur at a first development time and the second sensor measurementsoccur at a second development time, wherein the first development timeprecedes the second development time.
 62. A method for developing anddigitizing exposed film having multiple emulsion layers containingsilver halide, the method comprising: coating a processing solution tothe film to initiate development of metallic silver and a dye imagewithin the coated film; scanning the coated film with light within thevisible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and outputting sensordata; and processing the sensor data to produce a digital image.
 63. Themethod of claim 62, wherein the sensor data forms a silver record and atleast one color dye record.
 64. The method of claim 63, whereinprocessing the sensor data includes processing the color dye recordusing the silver record to substantially remove the effects of thesilver in the film.
 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the silvercomprises metallic silver.
 66. The method of claim 64, wherein thesilver comprises silver halide.
 67. The method of claim 66, wherein thesilver also comprises metallic silver.
 68. The method of claim 62,wherein scanning the coated film comprises scanning the coated film withblue light.
 69. The method of claim 62, wherein scanning the coated filmcomprises scanning the coated film with red, green, and blue light. 70.The method of claim 62, wherein scanning the coated film with lightwithin the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum comprisesscanning the coated film with light within the visible portion of theelectromagnetic spectrum and infrared light, and outputting sensor data.71. The method of claim 70, wherein the light within the visible lightportion of the electromagnetic spectrum includes red light.
 72. Themethod of claim 70, wherein the light within the visible light portionof the electromagnetic spectrum includes red and green light.
 73. Themethod of claim 62, further comprising retarding the continueddevelopment of the coated film prior to scanning the coated film. 74.The method of claim 73, wherein retarding the continued development ofthe coated film comprises applying a halt solution to the coated film toretard the continued development of the coated film.
 75. The method ofclaim 73, wherein retarding the continued development of the coated filmcomprises chilling the coated film to retard the continued developmentof the coated film.
 76. The method of claim 73, wherein retarding thecontinued development of the coated film comprises drying the coatedfilm to retard the continued development of the coated film.
 77. Amethod of scanning a film having at least one dye image and silverdisposed within the film, the method comprising: illuminating the filmwith light within the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum;and measuring the intensity of the light from the film and outputtingsensor data.
 78. The method of claim 77, wherein illuminating the filmwith light within the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrumcomprises illuminating the film with blue light.
 79. The method of claim77, wherein illuminating the film with light within the visible portionof the electromagnetic spectrum comprises illuminating the film with redand green light.
 80. The method of claim 77, wherein illuminating thefilm with light within the visible portion of the electromagneticspectrum comprises illuminating the film with light within the visibleportion of the electromagnetic spectrum and infrared light.
 81. Themethod of claim 77, wherein measuring the intensity of the light fromthe film comprises measuring the intensity of the light transmittedthrough the film.
 82. The method of claim 81, wherein the lighttransmitted through the film includes infrared light.
 83. The method ofclaim 77, wherein measuring the intensity of the light from the filmcomprises measuring the intensity of the light reflected from the film.84. The method of claim 83, wherein the light reflected from the filmincludes blue light
 85. The method of claim 77, wherein measuring theintensity of the light from the film comprises measuring the intensityof the light reflected from and transmitted through the film.
 86. Themethod of claim 85, wherein the light transmitted through the filmincludes infrared light
 87. A digital image produced by digitallyprocessing film that has silver and at least one dye image within thefilm, the process comprising scanning the film with light having atleast one frequency within the visible light portion of theelectromagnetic spectrum and processing the scan data to produce thedigital image.
 88. The digital image produced in accordance with claim87, further comprising scanning the film using light transmitted throughthe film.
 89. The digital image produced in accordance with claim 87,further comprising scanning the film using light reflected from thefilm.
 90. The digital image produced in accordance with claim 87,further comprising scanning the film using light transmitted through andreflected from the film.
 91. The digital image produced in accordancewith claim 87, wherein the light for scanning the film includes infraredlight.
 92. The digital image produced in accordance with claim 91,wherein the light for scanning the film includes red and green light.